Catherine Delors

I am seeking representation for my historical novel, working title Tricolours , cast as a memoir spanning fifteen years of the life of a young noblewoman before and during the French Revolution.

During that time, France and its people struggled to build a utopia based on the ideals of liberty and equality, breaking new ground to free themselves from a sclerotic monarchy. Differing currents of thought clashed over the fate of a nation.

This provides the backdrop for Gabrielle de Monserrat's journey through hardships and betrayal by three men in her life before she reaches at last for an impossible happiness. A girl of quiet strength and startling beauty, released into the fascinating world of Paris nobility, a widow at seventeen with a young daughter, Gabrielle has little money and few prospects. Determined and inquisitive, she survives, maintaining her humanity and sense of decency. On occasion, she glimpses her first love, Pierre-André Coffinhal, as he ascends from obscure patriot to one of the most passionate architects of the new order.

The real Coffinhal remains to this day a controversial figure, a physician turned lawyer and then judge of the Revolutionary Tribunal. He was a man of resolute purpose, who presided over many political trials, often resulting in a death sentence, until he himself was sent to the guillotine. One of the themes of the novel explores when life may be justly surrendered, whether in support of a cause or in the defense of one's country.

I was educated in France and have spent over ten years as a practicing attorney in Los Angeles. My professional pursuits led me to explore the origins of the French legal system and its parallels to American jurisprudence. My research took me into the archives of the Revolutionary Tribunal and many memoirs of the time. I discovered that the French Revolution resonates deeply within my affection for history and narrative. This story emerged unbidden, prompted by the fact that I spent part of my childhood in the birthplace of three historical characters appearing in the novel.